FBI Agent in Court on Charge of Lying About Rancher Shooting

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FILE - In this Jan. 9, 2016 file photo, Robert "LaVoy" Finicum, left, a rancher from Arizona, talks to reporters at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Ore. A federal prosecutor revealed in court documents. on June 23, 2016, that the investigation of FBI agents involved in the traffic stop that led to the killing of Finicum is before a grand jury.

An FBI agent pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to charges that he lied about shooting at a key figure in last year's armed occupation of a national wildlife refuge just before the man was killed by Oregon police.

W. Joseph Astarita was indicted on five felony charges after the inspector general of the U.S. Justice Department last year began investigating possible FBI misconduct and whether there was a cover-up.

He said nothing during a brief court hearing and was released on his own recognizance, declining to comment as he left.

Robert "LaVoy" Finicum, a spokesman for the group that took over the remote bird sanctuary to oppose federal control of land in the Western U.S., was fatally shot Jan. 26, 2016. Oregon State Police opened fire after he got out of a vehicle at a police roadblock and reached toward a handgun in an inner jacket pocket.

Investigators determined the troopers were justified in shooting Finicum but also found members of an FBI hostage rescue team at the scene failed to disclose that they fired two rounds that missed the Arizona rancher.

"The actions of the FBI HRT team in this case damage the integrity of the entire law enforcement profession, which makes me both disappointed and angry," said Deschutes County Sheriff Shane Nelson, whose department investigated Finicum's shooting.

Oregon U.S. Attorney Billy Williams would neither confirm nor deny that up to four additional members of the FBI team are under investigation for making false statements.

Finicum's widow, Jeanette Finicum, has said she plans to sue state police and the FBI, alleging the use of excessive force in her husband's death. Nobody answered a call to her number Wednesday, and her lawyer, Brian Claypool, did not return a message seeking comment.

Dozens of people, including leader Ammon Bundy, occupied the remote Malheur National Wildlife Refuge from Jan. 2 to Feb. 11, 2016. They were allowed to come and go for several weeks as authorities tried to avoid bloodshed seen in past standoffs at Waco, Texas, and Ruby Ridge, Idaho.

But authorities moved in Jan. 26 when key standoff leaders left for a community meeting, pulling over two vehicles and arresting the occupiers inside.

Finicum, 54, was driving one vehicle. Video taken by a passenger showed the occupants panicking after authorities stopped the truck.

With his window rolled down, Finicum shouted at officers: "Shoot me, just shoot me! Put the bullet through me."

Finicum then sped off, coming to a roadblock and plowing into a snowbank.

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Authorities say the FBI agent fired two errant shots as Finicum left the truck. As Finicum stood in the snow, authorities told him to lie on the ground. Instead, he reached toward his jacket, and state troopers fired three rounds that hit him.

Williams, the U.S. attorney, said the shooting was necessary protect officer safety.

Most occupiers left the refuge after Finicum's death, though four holdouts stayed an additional 16 days.

Federal prosecutors tried to convict occupation leaders Ammon and Ryan Bundy and five others in a trial last fall but jurors acquitted them of charges of conspiring to impede federal workers from their jobs.

Several others pleaded guilty without going to trial or were convicted.

The Bundys and others are now facing conspiracy charges in Nevada over a 2014 armed standoff with federal agents.

North Korean Minister: Trump Tweet Declared War

North Korea's top diplomat says President Donald Trump's tweet that leader Kim Jong Un "won't be around much longer" amounted to a declaration of war against his country.

Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho told reporters Monday that what he called Trump's "declaration of war" gives North Korea "every right" under the U.N. Charter to take countermeasures, "including the right to shoot down the United States strategic bombers even they're not yet inside the airspace border of our country."

Ri Yong also said that "all options will be on the operations table" for the government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Ri referred to Trump's tweet Saturday that said: "Just heard Foreign Minister of North Korea speak at U.N. If he echoes thoughts of Little Rocket Man, they won't be around much longer!"